About Road to VR

About Road to VR

Founded in 2011, Road to VR is the world’s leading independent news publication dedicated to the consumer virtual reality industry. We explore the bleeding edge of virtual reality, augmented reality, and human-computer interaction. We’re charting the course between today’s immersive technology and that of the distant future, capable of perfect simulations of reality.

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Co-founder & Executive Editor

Ben Lang

Based in Silicon Valley, Ben has held editorial positions across several technology publications for eight years. He founded Road to VR in 2011 to explore the immense possibilities of virtual reality, augmented reality, and human-computer interaction. Having seen the individual pieces but never the entire puzzle, he set out to map VR’s current state-of-the-art and to understand how far it is from a perfect simulation of reality (a la Matrix).

Beginning with tracking the consumer VR space nearly a year before the Oculus Rift Kickstarter, Ben has spent the last several years actively documenting and promoting the industry as it experiences an explosive resurgence.

Co-founder & Senior Editor

Paul James

Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift.

Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.

Editor

Scott Hayden

An American expat based in Italy, Scott learned at a young age to revere the power of science fiction, becoming a figurative stained glass window through which he viewed the world. Throughout his childhood he was force fed countless reruns of Star Trek TNG, Quantum Leap, Sliders, (among many others) and lived by The Evil Dead triology and Saturday mornings watching MST3K with the rest of his sci-fi-freak family.

Like every card-carrying dweeb who grew up in the ’90s, Scott spent uncountable hours in front of a TV and various consoles, but even longer wishing inside his head that the fantasies played out in games and movies would someday become a reality. After following VR casually since its entrance into the public psyche, he decided to investigate further by the only way he knew how: by writing about it. He believes that VR will start a revolution of the mind, helping to give ineffable ideas form and increasing humanity’s ability to relate to one another through free expression.

Writer

Dominic Brennan

The trial version of Microsoft’s Monster Truck Madness probably had something to do with it. And certainly the original Super Mario Kart and Gran Turismo. A car nut from an early age, Dominic was always drawn to racing games above all other genres. Now a seasoned driving simulation enthusiast, and former editor of Sim Racer magazine, Dominic has followed virtual reality developments with keen interest, as cockpit-based simulation is a perfect match for the technology. Conditions could hardly be more ideal, a scientist once said.

Writing about simulators lead him to Road to VR, whose broad coverage of the industry revealed the bigger picture and limitless potential of the medium. Passionate about technology and a lifelong PC gamer, Dominic suffers from the ‘tweak for days’ PC gaming condition, where he plays the same section over and over at every possible combination of visual settings to find the right balance between fidelity and performance.

Based within The Fens of Lincolnshire (it’s very flat), Dominic can sometimes be found marvelling at the real world’s ‘draw distance’, wishing virtual technologies would catch up.

London Correspondent

Jonathan Tustain

Based in the creative hub of Shoreditch, London, Jonathan found is passion in life after setting up a 3D news blog in 2010. Having been fascinated by virtual reality since queuing for over an hour to play Dactyl Nightmare at Gamesmaster Live, the new renaissance of VR could not have come sooner for Jonathan.

Currently freelancing for a company that produces virtual reality experiences for major brands, Jonathan is firmly anchored in this emerging industry, and co-runs the London Oculus Rift / VR Developer Meetup.

“I have been a daily reader of Road to VR since it started. Unlike Ben and Paul, I am not an avid gamer but what particularly intrigues me is how this technology will transform other industries, especially marketing, and the business models that will come as a result.”

Contributor

Frank He

A student at UCLA, Frank’s passion has been to discover and experience worlds beyond reach, which is one of the reasons he began studying neuroscience. He believes that one day we’ll be able to venture into digital dimensions that seem no less real than our own. Now that VR has begun to take hold in the consumer market, Frank has decided to take a pause from studying and concentrate on the industry that’s before him.

Even before this, Frank has always been keen on experiencing virtual worlds, namely through gaming. And while too young to have lived through the beginnings of the video game industry, he’s carefully followed the developments of the 2D to 3D era; with the rise of modern VR and the pioneers that steer it, Frank knew he had to pay attention.